The present invention relates to a field of mobile devices and mobile device software and, more particularly, to auto-deploying an application from a mobile device to a host in a pervasive computing environment.
As many mobile devices (e.g., smart mobile phone) are increasingly entering the market. These devices are continuously being developed for increased capabilities. These increasing capabilities include processing power, memory capability (or memory card slots to extend the storage capacity), network connectivity capabilities (e.g., WIFI, telephony, BLUETOOTH, and other Over the Air (OTA) capabilities), digital cameras, etc. As capabilities grow, so do applications designed to utilize these capabilities.
NTT DoCoMo, in May 2007, unveiled a new mobile phone equipped with a motion sensor, D904i series. People can swing the handset like a tennis racket or wield it like sword, similar to WII Remote (dubbed a WIIMOTE), to enjoy the game experience provided by the current popular NINTENDO WII console.
A paper published by Human Interface Technology Laboratory, Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, Siddharth Singh, et al. titled “Anywhere, Any-device Gaming” discloses a multi-player networked Pong game that can be played in real-time on mobile devices and stationary PCs. The system for implementing the multi-player networked game includes a SONY-ERICSSON P800 phone, a central game server hosting multiple games, and personal computers. A player may connect to the game server using a game console, a mobile phone or a personal computer. The client-server model has been used so that all interaction is done through the game server. The server supports multiple connectivity methods such that the same game may be played simultaneously on multiple devices. The server can also be used to support seamless migration from one device to another when playing an online game. For example, a player can play an online game on her game console at home, connected to the Internet. Then in the day time while on the move or sitting on a bus or train, she/he can continue to play the game seamlessly. In other words, there is no interruption no matter what device she is using.
The WII is the fifth home video game console released by NINTENDO. The WII competes with other seventh-generation consoles in the market, primarily MICROSOFT's XBOX 360 and SONY's PLAYSTATION 3. The WII system includes a WII console and a WII Remote, which is a wireless controller for the WII console. The WII Remote is a game controller that uses a built-in motion detector, which is a combination of built-in accelerometers and infrared detection. The WII Remote can be used as a handheld pointing device and detect movement in three dimensions. The WII is a very popular game console in the market.
However, it is inconvenient to carry the WII console to other places due to the limitation of size. Currently, in WII environment, games are stored in the WII console and cannot be shared with friends easily. Moreover, a user has to use the WII Remote embedded with the motion detector to sense its motions and interact with items on screen. This causes inconvenience in use, especially for a multi-user situation which has to prepare a WII Remote for each user. In addition, the WII Remote only provides motion-detection and limited data input capabilities.
The techniques as mentioned above require that games must be stored in a WII console or a central game server which is not convenient for transport, and a user must have a WII console and a WII Remote in advance for games/applications similar to WII games. It is inconvenient for a user who wants to carry WII games to his/her friends' home for sharing.